Sentinels of Time
by shadowD
Summary: The year is 1970, and AEGIS has been defeated by Invader forces. Now, from the war-torn 21st century, two Invader Hunters journey back in time, seeking to undo the past and save their future. Dedicated to Rift. BETA 2


BETA 2: Typos, grammatical errors and sentence structures corrected... at least the ones my pre-readers managed to nab for me. ;) Final version coming soon.  
  
All my pre-readers are dead, it seems.  
  
They're not, actually; but it is the end of the year, and I suppose we all have exams to get over with. :D This is the BETA, UN-PREREAD version of the prologue, which means it'll probably be chock-full of errors and inconsistencies. Will be revised when my pre-readers get back to me, or when you people shoot me down for uploading such an error-fest... whichever comes first. :P   
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

_"Tell me the meaning of 'power'  
I wonder if it's something I can go through  
Or even if I devote myself  
Can I protect the things which I must protect?"_  
  
- "Hemisphere" by Sakamoto Maaya, RahXephon OP  
  
  
**GateKeepers / GateKeepers 21  
Legacy of the Gate, Book 1: Sentinels of Time  
Prologue**  
  
Disclaimer: GateKeepers and GateKeepers 21 belong to GONZO. Anything I didn't create belongs to their respective owners. Additional material and inspiration cadged (with permission, I think...) from 'GateMasters', written and owned by Corruption Rift. Don't sue me, people. @_@  
  
  
_:: Tokyo, Japan ::  
:: AD 2001 ::_  
  
"Activate recon mode. I want Tokyo scanned for Invader activity levels. See if you can find the safest possible route to the Command Center."  
  
"Reconnaissance mode activated." Pause. A holographic representation of Tokyo popped to life, divided into sectors, sub-sectors and underground levels, the entire map tinted with intimidating, blinking reddish hues. "Specified scan target is saturated with Invader wave signals with an EI Level of MAX Alpha 750 and growing."  
  
_Saturation,_ Hiroshi's heart sank. _Not good._ "The routes?"  
  
"Analysis complete." A blue line appeared, snaking quickly through the mapped display until it stopped at a small island, separated from the mainland by a strip of water that was the Tokyo Bay. "Bypassing Route D14 directly into Route 25 will allow you to avoid the main bulk of Invader forces and their more advanced formation units. Structural placements will also enable more efficient defensive tactics with your respective Gate abilities... assuming the buildings are still standing."  
  
"Route D14 bypass it is, then," Hiroshi muttered. "Holograph mode."  
  
A 3D illustration of the same map blinked into view, this time floating in mid-air before him instead of in his NAVI display screen. Hiroshi stared at the diagram in resolute silence for several seconds, then turned to look behind him. Miyu was close behind, and to his right was Satoka, both of them balanced skillfully on jetboards identical to his. Two quick nods told him they had seen the projected map as well, and understood.  
  
Tokyo looked like nothing he had remembered. The once-proud metropolis now lay in smoldering ruins, deserted and destroyed. Buildings that once stood tall were reduced to wreckage. Streets were abandoned, vital infrastructure and facilities destroyed. High above where the tops of skyscrapers once dominated, vast hordes of alien, vulture-like marauders now swooped in constant patrol of the city, set against the backdrop of the crumbling ruins of the Tokyo Tower.  
  
The wind shrieked in his ears, whipping at his jet-black hair and faded brown trenchcoat. Hiroshi tensed, guiding his jetboard -- a machine which, for all in the world, resembled a fancy flying skateboard, powered by ion thrusters and anti-gravity generators -- with an expert touch, keeping a wary eye on the transparent heads-up NAVI display screen tucked over his right eye.  
  
Not that he needed it to tell him that Invaders were rapidly converging onto his location.  
  
"Get ready," Miyu stated simply. "They're coming."  
  
"Yeah..." Hiroshi acknowledged in reply. "I know."  
  
Two brief glances told him that Invader contingents were closing in all around them. Satoka had already armed herself with two broadswords, a smirk on her lips. "Let me and Miyu take care of this," she said. "Just keep yourself busy with trying to reach the Command Centre alive."  
  
"You wish," Hiroshi retorted. Then he grinned. "Don't think I'm going to let you look cool all by yourself."  
  
"Really?" Satoka's grip tightened on her blades. "Funny. I don't think dying looks cool at all."  
  
"Yare yare," Hiroshi sighed. "Here we go... again."  
  
  
~*~  
  
_:: Tokyo, Japan ::  
:: AD 1970 ::_  
  
  
The iron-wrought gates to the Diet Building crumpled with ease, falling before the advance of the Gate Robot Prototype Model 00.  
  
The Gate Robot straightened, drawing itself to full height. The compound of the Diet Building was muted in an unnatural silence, a sharp contrast to the frantic battle that was being waged beyond its walls. Standing before the steps of the Diet was a young boy somewhere in his late teens, dressed loosely in the uniform of a high school student, gazing with a mocking, indifferent casualness at the Gate Robot towering before him through a pair of tinted shades.  
  
Syun's grip tightened on the controls of his Gate Robot.  
  
"Posing as the Earth Defense Force, Syun?"  
  
Kageyama was smiling, but Syun could no longer find any trace of the boy he once thought he knew. The friendly warmth of Kageyama's grin was gone, and he now looked like a deadly viper ready to strike. "You know that's not true," Syun replied as evenly as he could.  
  
"The hero rescuing his princess from the evil sorcerer, then?" Kageyama smirked. "A pity, though. Your princess will never leave the darkness now. And thanks to you, you hot-blooded idiot," the Shadow Keeper paused, raising a hand into the air, "I'll apply the law to deprive sunlight now."  
  
Kageyama snapped his fingers.  
  
Syun gasped as the earth appeared to crumble at its horizons, breaking apart into gigantic chunks that ascended toward the skies. It took him several seconds to realize that the chunks were, in reality, vast multitudes of Invader formation forms in the configuration of aircraft carriers, and Syun could only watch in silent trepidation as the hordes of Invaders closed together, forming black, opaque clouds that closed off the sun's rays altogether, plunging Tokyo into a state of near-darkness.  
  
"Kageyama!" Syun yelled. "What're you doing?!"  
  
  
~*~  
  
From far off, the Invaders had appeared to be of the common bat-winged variety. There was a classification cipher for them, Hiroshi knew, but all he could remember off the top of his head right now was that they began with EC-5 something. From up close, however, Hiroshi could spot certain dissimilarities with their physical configurations. Wings and skin appeared to hold a certain degree of metallic, mechanical properties, and several sections of their outer armor were peeled away by design to reveal underlying circuitry and miniature, Invader-sized mortar cannons that, as Hiroshi had quickly discovered first-hand, possessed significantly more firepower than usual.  
  
They were everywhere, firing at him from every direction imaginable.  
  
Dust, rubble and debris exploded violently all around him as Invader anti-matter blasts missed him by mere inches, trying to hit a target they could barely see, blowing up the ground below him as he moved. Hiroshi gave a brief smirk as he emerged from the dust cloud unscathed, instantly pushing himself into a sharp ascent. Swirls of liquid, metallic flames coalesced around his right fist as Hiroshi rose to meet the Invaders above him, still firing volley after volley in a desperate attempt to stop the Hunter's inexorable advance...  
  
"GATE OPEN!!" Hiroshi screamed. "MURAMASA!!"  
  
Silver flames snapped into place and solidified in the blink of an eye into a zanbatou blade almost as tall as its wielder. Hiroshi's eyes narrowed, the zanbatou balanced expertly in his hands as he flashed from sight, reappearing above the Invader horde, a temporal storm of silver energy gathering on the edge of his deadly blade. Invaders swung around, turning to meet his advance, but the Invader Hunter was already among them, the lethal descent of the zanbatou tearing through their ranks as it did. The blade flashed, melting into a blur of silver as Invaders were carved apart, dissolving into a crystal shower.  
  
"ZANGENKEN!!"  
  
Gigantic quakes of crescent telekinetic force flashed into view, trailing the tip of the zanbatou as Hiroshi twisted his massive weapon around, unleashing a swift, furious myriad of strokes as he moved, slashing a path through Invader ranks, the heavy blade tearing through the bodies of Invaders with effortless ease as they burst into green crystals seemingly in unison.  
  
"Open the Gate..."  
  
The edge of the zanbatou flared into a brilliant silver surge of energy in response as Hiroshi thrust the weapon forward, the strength of his own Gate augmented by micro Gate Amplifiers constructed into the hilt of the blade. Invader anti-matter bolts, aimed at the Invader Hunter, froze suddenly in mid-air as they approached their intended target, shaking violently in place as they pushed against some unseen barrier holding them from their quarry less than an arm's length away...  
  
"Worthless..." Hiroshi muttered, bringing the zanbatou downward through the air. "ENSHOUKEN!!"  
  
A consecutive chain of explosions burst out in mid-air as every Invader within thirty feet of the Invader Hunter were razed to nothingness by a destructive, combined blast of telekinetic energy and anti-matter particles. Grimly Hiroshi emerged from the maelstrom of energy that burned away at the remains of the Invaders, zanbatou held outward at arm's length. A soft silver brilliance coursed the length of the blade, swiftly ridding the weapon of whatever black bloodstains that remained upon it.  
  
He could feel in the very air; his enemies feared him, just as he feared them.  
  
_You think too much,_ Satoka had scoffed at him once. _So what if you're afraid? It's a sign you're still alive, at least._  
  
Mobile phones triggered in mid-air below, exploding into destructive gouts of red-hot flame. It had took Miyu and Satoka less than five minutes to clean up the few stragglers that remained, and Satoka's expression was one of annoyance as she caught up with him. "I told you to stay back!" she yelled.  
  
"C'mon," Hiroshi grinned. "You know me better than that."  
  
"I think we've cleared out most of them anyway," Miyu said. A strip of blue glittered under the early morning sunlight in the far distance, which Hiroshi knew would be the Tokyo Bay. She cast aside a pair of spent mobile phones, drawing two fresh ones from the folds of her coat, then activated and primed the devices at ready. "As for the remainder..."  
  
**Gate of Blast Heat, selection confirmed. Imitation Gate System loaded...**  
  
"Execute," Miyu said, tossing the cellphone forward.  
  
Heat waves shimmered as the device burst into an intense vortex of superheated air, bouncing lightly off and coming to rest on the ground. Hiroshi grimaced in anticipation, opening his mouth as wide as he could to equalize the air pressure between his eardrums...  
  
Then the explosion came.  
  
Satoka let out a wild whoop as the jetboards were pushed to their very limits, riding the brunt of the intense aftershocks as they strained to outrun the blast that threatened to engulf them as well. Hiroshi frowned as he felt his jetboard's engines approach its critical threshold; the ion thrusters were overheating, its vibrations fiercer than usual, and the soles of his boots, thick as they were, were beginning to feel warm to his feet as they started melting from the heat. Alarms were beginning to flash at him in his NAVI display now, warning him of imminent micro-reactor engine overload...  
  
He wasn't going to make it.  
  
"K'sou," Hiroshi swore. "Open the Gate..."  
  
Pedal locks disengaged with a mental command; the Invader Hunter shifted his weight, kicking the jetboard backward with as much force as he could muster and hurling himself the opposing direction. The explosion was still rushing towards them, engulfing pursuing Invaders in a crackling fireball, and for a split-second Hiroshi found himself staring at the veritable sea of flames as it surged forward to meet him. Gravity beckoned; the force of his kick had worn off, and now he was beginning to fall, with a scorching inferno bearing down upon him...  
  
_God, please don't let me screw up..._  
  
"Ryuusei HISHOU!"  
  
The force of his own technique slammed into him like the kick of an angry mule. Blasts of pressurized air struck and rebounded off the ground, slamming into him, picking him up, tossing him forward as if he was a rag doll. Miyu and Satoka had, by now, more than realized that something was seriously wrong. Desperately Hiroshi tried to regulate the flow and intensity of his own energy, creating, altering and manipulating areas of compressed air and vacuum voids in a frantic attempt to control the path of his flight. The fireball raged mere inches behind him, and already Hiroshi could feel his trenchcoat beginning to smolder from the intense heat...  
  
Then Invader blasts rained down at him from above.  
  
He managed to surprise himself by managing to edge to the left and avoid getting hit, though it cost him every single bit of his concentration and willpower. Sensei had been right; his dexterity and reflexes had slacked off badly through lack of practice ever since he learned how to form energy barriers with his Gate. Dark rings zoomed past him, destroying everything they touched, leaving smoking craters in the ground as they hit, and Hiroshi threw himself into a desperate, deadly dance, willing his concentration to not falter, feeling the searing heat of the blasts as they missed by mere centimetres...  
  
_Just as the Hunter kills, he must be prepared to be killed in return--_  
  
"Open the Gate!!" Satoka screamed. "GIGA SWORD!!"  
  
_But not today..._  
  
Multiple crimson blades boomeranged towards the Invaders, tearing through their ranks, reducing the alien marauders to green crystals as they tore through the bodies of their victims with a wet, crushing noise. The barrage of rings, ever so imperceptibly, slowed for the briefest fraction of an instant...  
  
It was enough.  
  
Psychic force flared as Hiroshi released a downward energy blast from an outstretched fist, throwing himself into near-vertical acceleration. Invaders swiveled around to intercept him, suddenly aware of the terrifyingly powerful signature of Gate energy that presented itself to their senses--  
  
Hiroshi vanished, blinking from sight in a brief flash of silver light just as the Invaders opened fire, waves of rings surging past the spot where the Hunter had been but an instant ago. A second burst of light flashed, this time above the Invaders, depositing Hiroshi in mid-air as he descended upon his foes, a small silver Gate opening, then imploding into his palm, but not before leaving behind the feared zanbatou in his hands once more to mark its passing.  
  
"Gate Open..."  
  
_Die._  
  
"Enshouken."  
  
  
~*~  
  
A slight rain drizzled that day, complete with gloomy, overcast clouds. Which was rather depressing, Hashimoto Daichi observed.  
  
Depressing, but rather fitting. Fine weather on that day would only be mockery of Man from the gods.  
  
The standard combat uniforms of AEGIS personnel were mostly waterproof, and his was no exception. And thus he stood erect, arms crossed as he gazed out across the strait that cut off the island from the mainland, allowing rivulets of rainwater to drip past his furrowed brow as his keen eyes kept a sharp watch for any sign of activity on the seemingly-deserted mainland. To see Tokyo burn in smoldering ruins was a disheartening sight. He had been born and raised in the city, but, more importantly, the destruction stood as a silent testimony to the failure of Man as the capital of Japan had, at final last, fallen to Invader forces.  
  
It was odd... he had fought with everything he had. They all had. And, for a while, they had allowed themselves to believe that they would, at least, win this battle.  
  
The cold sea wind chilled him to the bone, but failed to make him flinch. To him, heat and cold were one and the same, and not to be resisted, but accepted. In truth, sophisticated radar systems would have detected Invader activity long before he could have seen them with the naked eye, but he lingered nonetheless, inhaling the salty scent of the breeze, reveling in its freezing chill. He had always lived for the present, and, with Death staring at him in the eye, he didn't quite feel particularly inclined to step away from the winds of the sea yet, cold as they were. It was, after all, proof that he was still among the land of the living... for the moment.  
  
For to live was easier than to die.  
  
Small plumes of water rose from the distance, whipped to a frothy whiteness, closing towards Odaiba with breathtaking speed. Daichi squinted, raising a pair of digital scopes to his eyes. His heart skipped a beat as he recognized three human forms; two of them riding on jetboards, skimming lightly across the surface of the water, while the third -- a boy dressed in a long brown trenchcoat -- seemed to be levitating, enshrouded every now and then within a brief, flickering silver haze, keeping up with the speed of the jetboards with no visible effort.  
  
The Invader Hunters.  
  
And, right behind them, a vast horde of winged, alien marauders swooped in pursuit like an evil, malignant shadow.  
  
"They're here," a bespectacled boy announced from beside him, snapping his mobile laptop computer shut as he rose to his feet. "Permission to mobilize Gate Robots, sir?"  
  
Behind them, the ruins of what was once the entrance to the underground AEGIS Command Centre stood half-buried amidst large mounds of demolished rubble. Daichi could detect movements among the said rubble as Enforcers and Invader Hunters alike assumed their arranged positions; the two of them had apparently not been the only ones to be aware of the Invaders' approach.  
  
Daichi gave a terse nod. "Get to it."  
  
The Invaders were close enough to see now, visible as hazy mists on the far side of the sea channel that slowly solidified as they took form. This was why they were here, all of them.  
  
He rose to his feet.  
  
It all began thirty years ago in this very city.  
  
Today, the field of the first battle would be the field of the last.  
  
  
~*~  
  
"You never told me you could fly!" Satoka yelled.  
  
"Yeah well, glad you like it!" Hiroshi yelled back.  
  
Odaiba loomed ahead. Hiroshi gave a grim, satisfied grin as the tint of red on the holographic map in his NAVI eyepiece told him that the Invaders were still, foolishly, pursuing them with a dogged tenacity as they approached the man-made islet; Team C-15 was already there, the perimeter secured, and -- by the looks of the sleek form of the Gate Robot deployed near the edge of the shore -- more than ready to provide backup support. A small box snapped to view in the lower left edge of his NAVI. "Invader Hunter Natalie Kryshnikov of Team C-15 reporting for duty," a blonde, blue-eyed girl announced cheerfully through the video link. "It looks like you people could use some help there."  
  
"I've just run out of Imitation Gate systems, by the way," Miyu added. "Artillery support would be most helpful at this point."  
  
"Acknowledged," Hiroshi nodded. "Level 3 termination is requested."  
  
"Ryokai." The Gate Robot fell into a half-crouch, its pilot grinning. "Now get out of the way, you're in my line of fire."  
  
Then Hiroshi heard it; the fleeting, ghostly laugh of a girl that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Nobody else appeared to be aware of the sound, but the Invader Hunter stiffened, muscles locked into rigidity, icy spikes of terror driven into his heart as the ephemeral laughter faded away into nothingness...  
  
He had heard the voice before.  
  
Then his NAVI screen erupted into multiple Invader alert warnings.  
  
Something huge rose from beneath the water surface, its bulk large enough to create a large wave that surged towards Miyu and Satoka. Hiroshi backpedaled frantically, clearing the crest of the wave as it washed from below him, watching as the two female Invader Hunters surf the wave apex with practiced ease. A writhing mass of black tentacles rose explosively from the creature, tipped with razor-sharp black crystals, parting into three clusters as they wriggled towards the Hunters with unnatural speed and dexterity.  
  
"GO TO HELL!" Satoka screamed, the Dragon Slayer in her hands, slashing a path through the mass of tendrils with several quick, scything sweeps of her blade. Gurgling, high-pitched cries rang out as the severed tendrils withdrew, spraying dark black ichor from their amputated ends. The fusion shrank back, as if retreating...  
  
"Crud," Hiroshi muttered. He raised a hand, tapping at the NAVI unit tucked behind his right ear. "We need artillery support! NOW!"  
  
"You're in the way!" Natalie yelled back. "Get out of there!"  
  
Then Invader torsos emerged from the end of each tentacle, protruding long, sword-like clusters of spike from backs and upper bodies that curved forward, interlocking together into a shape that vaguely resembled the barrels of cannons. The rest of the fusion rose from the depths of the sea, shaped in the form of a enormous squid, and Hiroshi's eyes narrowed as the red core revealed itself, sunk into what passed as the creature's head, seeking its prey...  
  
"ZANGENKEN!!"  
  
Crescent energy waves tore through the air, shearing off three of the gigantic tentacles from the rest of the squid-shaped fusion. The remaining coils glowed abruptly; emanating rays of bright gray light, accompanied by a shrill, humming noise that increased in pitch and intensity with alarming speed--  
  
The sound of energy cannons powering up was unmistakable.  
  
"GO!!" Satoka yelled. "Go go go go go!!"  
  
The bolt exploded with the force of ten fistfuls' worth of plastic explosives, its tentacle recoiling as the blast was fired, yet missing its intended mark. Angrily the remaining tentacles swung around, unleashing antiparticle charges in a salvo-like burst. Miyu let out a startled gasp as the last energy bolt streaked past, striking the water surface barely five feet to her left. The onslaught of superheated seawater was dodged easily, but the jetboard crumpled instantly, torn apart by intense electromagnetic fields as the bolt erupted.  
  
"Miyu!" Hiroshi yelled.  
  
Miyu was airborne in a brilliant burst of green light, kicking off the remains of her obliterated jetboard, ascending into the air almost as if in flight. The Invader ignored the two other Hunters now, antiparticle cannons swinging around, locking onto Miyu as the impetus of her leap wore off, tips crackling with electrical-like arcs of energy.  
  
"Kono yarou..." Miyu swore, reaching into her coat. "I'll--"  
  
Her pockets were empty.  
  
"Shoot..."  
  
"Target is... dropping..." the core announced with malicious glee. Miyu stared grimly below her as she fell directly towards the fusion form; there was no object to exert leverage upon, no way to change her course, no Imitation Gate systems left to shield herself with or destroy the abomination... the delay had allowed pursuing Invaders to catch up, and Hiroshi was too busy fending off the horde as they swarmed around him...  
  
"Terminate."  
  
Orbs of destructive force were unleashed upon command, screaming through the air as they rushed up to meet her, bearing unspoken promises to vaporize her body into indiscernible, unseen ions. Miyu closed her eyes, silently wishing for a swift, painless death...  
  
The impact slammed into her with hammer-like force, knocking the breath from her lungs. A searing flash of light and heat enveloped her body, but death did not arrive.  
  
Miyu opened her eyes.  
  
Satoka winked at her, the cracked, molten hilt of the Dragon Slayer in her free hand bearing testimonial of the tremendous amount of energies the now-damaged blade had been made by its wielder to withstand. "Don't die yet, Miyu."  
  
"I do my best," Miyu said, recomposing herself. "But thank you."  
  
"Heh," Satoka grinned. "Now we're even."  
  
Miyu paused for a while, then smiled softly. "Yes, I guess we are." Then she frowned. "Do you really have to keep score?"  
  
"Sort of. I don't like leaving debts unpaid."  
  
"Gate ability... danger... danger..."  
  
"About time we got out of here," Satoka hissed. "Hiro-kun!"  
  
"Right behind you!" Hiroshi yelled. "Now move it!"  
  
"Terminate the Gate ability."  
  
Salvos of energy orbs burst towards them. Almost lazily Hiroshi thrust an open palm forward, a translucent barrier snapping into place as he did so. The orbs exploded into roaring maelstroms of dark energy, slamming harmlessly against the shield, the force of the blasts screened out and absorbed by the kinetic dampening field as they did. "Natalie!" he yelled. "I want the fusion form dead! Do you copy?!"  
  
"Loud and clear," Natalie replied. "Initiating Gate Unlock sequence..."  
  
The sea raged. Hiroshi tensed, feeling subtle, yet deadly changes in the air; energy raced through the systems of the Gate Robot, amplified hundredfold, channeled into the arms of the mechanoid that were beginning to radiate a vivid blue light. Water parted before Natalie, directed by the Invader Hunter's will, bursting wildly from the sea in a storm of magnificent, pressurized columns that reached towards the sky--  
  
"Incoming!" Miyu warned.  
  
The skies darkened. Lightning flashed, as if in prelude to a storm.  
  
"Powerful energy source has been detected," the Invader core announced, this time with a hint of desperation in its inhuman voice. "The Invader Hunter. Destroy. Eradicate. Terminate..."  
  
The torso of the squid split apart in half. Hiroshi was, at that moment, largely engrossed with his own escape from Natalie's range of fire, not paying much attention to the Invader fusion, if at all. It was, therefore, not without consternation that Hiroshi discovered that the fusion had turned its attention to the closest Hunter available, sending forth a mass of black, slimy tentacles that roped about his limbs in the space of a heartbeat. "Nani?..."  
  
"Hiro-kun!" Satoka yelled.  
  
"Gate Open!" Natalie cried. "HYDRO WAVE!!"  
  
The sea unleashed its amassed fury in an instant. Pressurized jets of water and miniature tsunamis roared, converging upon the giant squid-Invader, then crashed down in torrential waves from every direction. Satoka almost turned back, watching helplessly as Hiroshi struggled against the rope-like tentacles, vanishing from sight under the onslaught of water. The liquid almost seemed to possess a will of its own, flowing around both Miyu and Satoka, overrunning only the Invaders. Briefly the fusion resisted, struggling against the furious blitz, then fell, dissolving into crystals one by one, bright sparkling gems that were quickly washed away as a final, gigantic tidal wave consumed everything that was still standing...  
  
"Hiro-kun..." Satoka mumbled, her voice a soft whisper. "Masaka... he's dead?"  
  
A silver shaft of light flashed from the sky.  
  
"Iie," Miyu replied. "I don't think so."  
  
A falling blade stabbed downwards, rifts of silver energy still trailing from its edges, plunging through the air, sinking and embedding itself upright into the ground with enough force to bury half the blade beneath the earth, defying any living man to approach it but its own wielder...  
  
"Muramasa," Satoka gasped, recognizing the zanbatou. "Hiroshi!"  
  
A scream echoed from the skies, speaking of fury.  
  
And then the Invader Hunter descended, hurled through the air in a wide arc, right hand locked in a chokehold around the face of the red Invader core. A dull, sickening crack resounded as Hiroshi slammed the Invader forcefully against the hard, unyielding ground, impaling the creature upon the hilt of the zanbatou as both airborne combatants landed, the end of the weapon protruding from the Invader's punctured torso--  
  
The Invader writhed, emitting a gurgling cry.  
  
"Die," Hiroshi murmured grimly, as only a blood-red crystal remained behind to mark the Invader's passing. It fell, and Hiroshi watched it silently as it did, emitting a soft, bell-like tinkle as it hit the ground. The deed was done, the task accomplished... but it would not be the last, and neither would the next, nor would the many more to come.  
  
_Yet it is done. For now._  
  
He could hear voices all around him; the stomp of booted feet, of voices yelling orders and reports, of weapons, engines and reactors, sounding hazy and indistinct, as they were far off, muted by an odd buzzing in his mind. Muramasa lay in the ground beside him, towering over him even only at half-length; Hiroshi lifted the monstrously huge blade, hefting it over his shoulders as he stood up, drawing himself to his full height, and it was only then did he notice that men were standing apprehensively some distance away from him. He could see it in their eyes, sense it in their minds; they were both in awe and fear of him, not daring to approach...  
  
"So he does it... again..." a voice said. Hiroshi could almost see Satoka grin at him, even before he turned around to face her. Miyu was following close behind, wringing the saltwater from her hair. "You're a hard guy to kill, Hiro-kun."  
  
Hiroshi gave a wry smile. "Some say it's my greatest strength."  
  
"Yeah, but being so persistent won't make you popular with the girls," she grinned weakly. "Yokatta desu ne... I really thought you were... dead... this time..."  
  
Hiroshi stepped forward, catching her under the arms as her legs gave way, and she collapsed weakly into his arms. "Gomen ne, Hiro-kun" she murmured. "But it looks like you'll have to go on alone."  
  
"We go together," Hiroshi reassured her, whispering softly. "Rest."  
  
It was then were the men finally galvanized into action. Medics rushed forward, and Hiroshi lowered her as lightly as he could onto the stretchers. "She saved me, you know," Miyu said. "I didn't know it drained her that much."  
  
"How are you feeling?" Hiroshi asked.  
  
"Relatively unhurt. I'm fine, I guess." Miyu paused. "It's never a good feeling when a friend is hurt for your sake, though."  
  
"She's a headstrong girl," Hiroshi smiled briefly. "You saved her quite a few times before, and she'd never be able to live it down if she didn't repay you in some way of her own. That's just how she is."  
  
"You're right, I guess," Miyu nodded. "We should find Commander Hawke now, then... he'll be expecting you."  
  
Miyu could see Hiroshi's jaws tighten involuntarily. The slightest trace of melancholy crossed his features, only to make way an instant later for the usual indifferent facade that Miyu had grown so used to over the years; unruffled, unreadable, and somewhat lost in a way, as if concealing unspoken -- yet heavy -- thoughts and contemplations behind his soft brown eyes. Satoka had once remarked that the boy would have looked more at home as a scholar than a soldier, with book and calligraphy writing brush in hand instead of blood-stained blades of death, of killing. Miyu had privately agreed.  
  
"You're thinking about Megumi-san, aren't you?" Miyu asked.  
  
Hiroshi stared pensively across the Tokyo Bay. "Sort of..." He heaved a weary sigh. "Maa. No point in wasting any more time, I guess. We'd better start on what we came for."  
  
"Takeda Hiroshi, Omega-level Invader Hunter. That's you, isn't it?"  
  
"I'd prefer it if you left out the 'Invader Hunter' part," Hiroshi said. He turned around; a small contingent of Enforcers stood behind him, fidgety, but handcannons at ready, though not quite sure whether to point their guns at him and Miyu. The elderly man standing at their lead appeared perfectly unperturbed, however, despite the fact that he wasn't carrying any weapons of his own... not as far as Hiroshi could tell.  
  
Striking blue eyes met his own. For a fleeting moment the Invader Hunter felt an ethereal sensation engulf his psychic senses as he perceived the man's mindforce; the Commander of Team C-15 felt ageless... somehow empty and devoid of being. Never since Megumi-san, Kageyama and Yukino had he ever felt anything quite like it. "Megumi sent word of your coming, boy," the man said. "I almost thought you weren't going to make it."  
  
"We were... delayed," Miyu said, a slight predatory smile on her lips. "Invader Hunters Manazuru Miyu and Takeda Hiroshi, reporting for duty, sir."  
  
"I've heard stories about you, boy." There was a strange expression on Commander Hawke's features. "How legions of Invaders would just vanish into thin air whenever you went on solo missions, though no one never knew how." He gazed at Hiroshi. "The only Executioner in the Central AEGIS Invader Hunter Division whom no man would work under, and who would take none."  
  
"Interesting," Hiroshi replied. His brow narrowed darkly. "And you still want me on this mission?"  
  
"Megumi vouched for you before High Command." He paused. "As did I."  
  
_One question cleared,_ at least, Hiroshi thought gloomily to himself. "Is the Command Centre secured?" Miyu asked.  
  
"As secured as possible." A heavy sense of foreboding told Hiroshi the answer to his question even as the Commander spoke. "Katsukawa authorized micro-neutrons and Access Restriction 10. We were late by five minutes." He gave a grim chuckle. "Nobody gets in or out until the radiation dissipates to safety levels... which should be about--"  
  
"Nuclear radiation intensity down to 50 IPW, sir!" a man yelled from the entrance of the Command Centre, ten feet away.  
  
"... now," Hawke finished wryly. Then his expression hardened. "Are you ready, boy?"  
  
"No," Hiroshi replied, seemingly lost in thought for several moments. "I don't think I'll ever be."  
  
"That's good enough," the Commander snapped. "Prep yourself... it'll take several minutes to unlock the jammed doors."  
  
Hiroshi nodded somberly, turning to walk away with Miyu. As he did, however, he heard the Commander call out after him. "On second thought, hold your horses. There's something I need to show you."  
  
  
~*~  
  
"Rurippe!!" Syun Ukiya was almost screaming by now. "You've always been Rurippe, and will always be!! The same Rurippe who was my best friend since I was a kid!!" He paused, his heart heaving as he struggled to fight back the tears of sorrow that threatened to flow down his face as he watched Ruriko Ikusawa fit the dark arrow into her bow without a word, indeed even without any acknowledgement that she heard what he had said. "You idiot!! Did you think I would give my most prized possession to you if I really hated you?!?"  
  
The bow was nocked, the arrow aimed squarely at his heart; it was impossible to miss at such close quarters. Syun watched with sadness at the face of his childhood love, now corrupted by hatred not even borne of her own heart. How Megumi had wrenched Rurippe's soul away like this he could only guess, and the bitter irony of the situation stung painfully; the girl he loved twisted by the enemy against him. Through the mist of his own tears he could see what was about to happen -- with him killed by Ruriko, the remaining GateKeepers would not stand any chance, not with the Gate Robot damaged beyond repair. He had failed them all when they had pinned their highest hopes on him, failed them when the stakes were the deadliest.  
  
All of them.  
  
He could hear Kageyama's voice taunting him. "Game over, Ukiya..."  
  
The coppery taste of his own blood filled his mouth as suddenly he felt a stabbing, cold pain in his chest; the arrow had pierced him through his chest. The unholy sensation of death stung him to his senses, and he could see Ruriko's face, her lips twisted into a cold smile as she watched him stagger to his knees, clutching at his breast.  
  
"Rurippe..." he managed one last, almost-inaudible word.  
  
"... you lose." Kageyama completing his sentence was the last thing he heard as darkness encroached from all sides. Briefly he contemplated resisting, holding onto life as long as he could, but the overwhelming sorrow of having let down Rurippe extinguished the final spark of hope... his love had not been deep enough to pull her through... he had lost after all.  
  
"UKIYA-SEMPAI!!!" Kaoru's anguished scream filled the air as she watched Ukiya's lifeless body slump to the ground in a heap, the black arrow that sealed his fate dissipating into shards of negative energy that returned to Ruriko's Gate of Genocide. She struggled, finally breaking free of Bancho's grip that had been holding her back from rushing headlong towards Ukiya all this while.  
  
"Kaoru!!" Bancho made a grab for her shirt, and missed. "Dammit! Come back here!"  
  
Kaoru made a mad dash towards Syun's body, hugging the dead GateKeeper in her bosom as tears flowed freely from her cheeks. It all seemed so unreal; Ukiya-taichou dead, killed by Ruriko when it was her that he loved so much. "K... k... k'sou!! Ikusawa-sempai!!" Kaoru lifted her head, staring at Ruriko's face as the latter calmly summoned another dark shaft into her hand. "He loved you, didn't you know that?!? All he thought of when Kageyama captured you was to find and save you!! How... HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM??!"  
  
"Like this," Ruriko replied emotionlessly as she aimed the arrow at her.  
  
"GATE OPEN!!" Kaoru screamed as she reacted within the blink of an eye, her reflexes immeasurably sharpened by anguish and anger, instantly opening her light-blue Gate of Physical Strengh as she rushed towards Ruriko with an arm held back in readiness to strike. "Kaoru PUNCH!!"  
  
Three towering objects loomed from the distance, casting long shadows on the ground as Gate Robot 01, 02 and 03 appeared on the scene, closing around Kageyama's Jet-Black Gate Robot in a triangular position within the space of seconds. Fenn Fei-ling stared up at the robotic battle armors, feeling a surge of hope in her heart. The three other Gate Robots were still fully operational; perhaps they still stood a chance of winning the battle yet.  
  
"Ukiya..." Jim Skylark's voice spoke softly, tinged by a hint of sadness as he saw Syun Ukiya lying on the ground, motionless. "We got here as soon as we could... Misao warned us..."  
  
"Looks like we didn't get here in time," Jun Thunders' voice continued, the hand of Gate Robot 01 clenching itself into a massive fist. "You'll pay dearly for this, Shadow. This I swear."  
  
Kageyama merely laughed in response, his voice cackling with undisguised amusement. "Interesting... yet even the combined efforts of pathetic bugs such as you mean nothing to me." The black Gate Robot stretched an arm towards the heavens, summoning forth twin circles of dark energy that swirled in mid-air. "Now... you die."  
  
  
~*~  
  
The sound of his own gasps filled the corridor.  
  
Lights flickered sporadically overhead, providing sparse illumination to the passageway, its steel walls stained with blood, the floor littered with human corpses and translucent, pale crystals alike. The boy staggered forward, a huge blade grasped in his right hand with enough force to turn his knuckles white, dragging it along the floor behind him, while his left clutched at an unmoving figure, slung across his shoulder. Bodies in his path were kicked aside; some of the lifeless faces were familiar ones, but he was beyond caring at this point.  
  
They were coming.  
  
He had to hurry.  
  
"We're approaching the final security interlock," a female voice spoke. "Manual verification is required."  
  
"Invader Hunter T... Takeda Hiroshi, rank Executioner," the boy rasped. "Authorization number 203066... Dominion clearance."  
  
"Clearance level for Executioner Takeda has been revoked to Ground Angel clearance. You do not have clearance to access this sector."  
  
The figure slung across his shoulder stirred. "Let me try," she gasped. "Invader Hunter Tachikawa Satoka, rank Executioner. Authorization number 178455, D... Dominion clearance."  
  
"Clearance level for Executioner Tachikawa has been revoked to Ground Angel clearance. You do not have clearance to access this sector."  
  
"Satoka!" Hiroshi whispered fiercely. "God... I was afraid you... you were..."  
  
"Dead?" Satoka managed an impish grin, and then burst into a fit of choked coughing. Hiroshi's heart skipped a beat as a trickle of blood seeped out from the corner of her lips. "Even with all your mind-reading... you... you don't know me half as well as you think..."  
  
Hiroshi managed a small smile, despite himself. "You're a girl. It figures."  
  
"The bastards," Satoka murmured, surveying the death and destruction around her. "What h... happened here?"  
  
"We got here too late," Hiroshi replied grimly. "Captain Katsukawa authorized the suicidal use of micro-neutron bombs to stop the Invaders before they could breach the TimeCommand chamber. Miyu and Commander Hawke are still trying to defend Sector 5 from fresh Invader reinforcements, but I lost contact with them five minutes ago... and Invader signals are closing in on us."  
  
Satoka looked as if she was about to cry. Hiroshi held her close, feeling his own anguish and torment well up within himself as well. He was angry; angry at the Invaders for destroying everything he had known and cherished, angry at the first-generation GateKeepers for their incompetence, for allowing the Invaders to become so powerful in the first place... but a larger portion of his anger was directed at himself as well. He was an Invader Hunter, one of the few cursed with the power of the Gate, and thus it was his inescapable destiny to be protector. He was supposed to defend, to be strong in the face of all odds... he had no right to fail them when they needed him the most... no right to leave them at the mercy of a horror that was his task to fight against...  
  
He had no right...  
  
Hiroshi shook himself out of his thoughts. A small, clear eyepiece was worn over his right eye, with the body of the device tucked behind his ear, almost unseen, and the Invader Hunter raised his right hand, tapping softly at the NAVI device. "Serena, alert status report."  
  
A holographic scanning display popped into view in his eyepiece, quickly switching into a bird's eye view of the AEGIS Network command base. Red blinking dots were moving through the pathways of the base, making their way towards the centre where he was. "Security status has been raised to Class 2 alert," Serena reported. "Invaders will penetrate the outer automated defense ring within an estimated fifteen minutes."  
  
"Can you open the door?"  
  
"I am not cleared to access Level 10 sectors without the company of a Dominion-clearance Invader Hunter," the NAVI replied. "I can, however, attempt to bypass the security systems and force-open the door, if you wish."  
  
"How long will that take?"  
  
"Given the encryption level, an estimated thirty minutes and twenty five seconds will be required."  
  
"Omoshiroi," Hiroshi smirked, raising his right arm and leveling the gun in his hand at the door. Swirls of silver light began to trail in Hiroshi's narrowed eyes, and the Invader Hunter grinned. "I've always wanted to blow this door apart."  
  
"Not again..." Satoka groaned.  
  
The carbon-reinforced doors were reduced to molten slag and torn apart at Hiroshi's seventh blast, carved open like a tin can. Hiroshi added a kick for good measure, striking the door with a burst of energy. Defeated at last, the fortified barriers crumpled outward, still smoking at its edges as it crashed onto the floor, raising a cloud of debris in its wake. Hiroshi stepped past the threshold of the wrecked door, waving his gun to clear it of smoke. "Well," he announced as cheerfully as he could. "We're here."  
  
"You're still as violent as ever," Satoka muttered.  
  
Hiroshi gave a wry grin. "I've had practice."  
  
The TimeCommand chamber, the most vital component of the base, had been left relatively intact. Two simple computer control terminals were set against a wall, and on the opposing side of the cluttered hall, which Hiroshi judged to be approximately five times the size of Kurogane-sensei's office, were a twin pair of ringed, metallic columns set upon a ramped platform -- electrodes that, Hiroshi knew, would serve to generate time rifts once activated.  
  
Or, at least, they would, in theory.  
  
"You sure took your time getting here."  
  
Satoka looked up wearily. "Huh?" she asked in mock surprise. "So you're already here."  
  
Seated behind one of the computer terminals was a young boy, dressed in the standard AEGIS Enforcer uniform. He rose, nodding somberly. "I thought I might as well make a silent exit before anyone noticed I was gone," he shrugged, motioning towards the twin column electrodes. Trust Terry to install a failsafe device, though. The two of you have the key codes, I believe?"  
  
"So you're the mole," Hiroshi said. "Damn you, Kyosuke... you made High Command suspect it was me too, all this while."  
  
"You were the most convenient target," Kyosuke stated simply. "If High Command believed you to be the spy, I could've done this without having to hurt anyone. And I didn't want to, Hiroshi, trust me."  
  
"You were with Team C-15," Satoka cried. "What happened to the rest of them, you jerk?!"  
  
"Dead," Kyosuke shrugged. "Not my fault, though, mind you." He grinned. "Hawke-sensei apparently had no qualms about sacrificing the entire team of Invader Hunters, just so the two of you could make it here safely."  
  
Satoka's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to hurt you, Kyosuke."  
  
Kyosuke appeared unperturbed. "He was an obstinate old goat to the end. A gun pointed at his head, and the wittiest quote he could come up with was some dumb 'hope will triumph over despair' cliché." He gave a short laugh. "Oh yes... you will hurt me, Satoka. After all, we can't have that creepy geriatric dying for nothing, can we?" He gave her a wink.  
  
"You bastard..." Hiroshi snarled, flicking open his trenchcoat to reveal his weapons belt. "I'm going to make this painful for you, Kyosuke."  
  
"But like I said," Kyosuke snapped, "I don't want to hurt you. I don't like beating up invalids, so just give me the key codes, and I'll be on my way. And oh," he added, tapping a small screen worn over his left eye, identical to Hiroshi's, "you have ten minutes to make up your mind, because that's how long it'll take the Invaders to get here."  
  
"Why do you want the key codes anyway?" Hiroshi demanded. "The Invaders have already won the war, Kyosuke. Every major city in the world is in smoking ruins. The AEGIS Network is retreating on every front." He gave a bitter laugh. "You don't need to travel back in time to kill us, Kyosuke. All you have to do is to destroy the mainframe computers, and we're as good as dead."  
  
"It's none of your business, Hiroshi," Kyosuke scoffed. "After all these years, you fools still have no idea how the Gate works. The power you summon all this while, believing it to be your hope and your salvation... do you even have any idea what it is?" Kyosuke gave a scornful laugh. "No, you don't have even a slightest clue, and it's going to be the doom of us all."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
Kyosuke held up a finger. "Your ten minutes are ticking. Give me the key codes, and you live. Don't give the key codes, and, well, you die." Kyosuke gave a brief shrug. "Come on, gimme a break. How hard can that decision be?"  
  
"You want the key codes?" Satoka cracked her knuckles, then reached for her neck, tearing off a small platinum amulet that hung from her throat via a piece of coarse thread. She held out the bauble at arm's length, and Kyosuke frowned as he recognized the motif of a dragon entwined around the blade of a daikatana. "Come get it," Satoka gave a predatory grin. "I won't need ten minutes to beat you up."  
  
Hiroshi cleared his throat, unbuttoning his trenchcoat collar to reveal an identical amulet hung around his throat as well. "Duplicates of the key code were made to guard against sabotage," he added. "Care to guess which of us holds the real one?"  
  
"Interesting," the corners of Kyosuke's mouth twisted into a grin. "It looks like I'll just have to take both, then."  
  
_Masaka?..._ Hiroshi frowned. _Don't tell me he's really going to take on two Invader Hunters at once?_  
  
Kyosuke uncrossed his arms, spreading them wide as a pair of cellphones fell from his sleeves and into his hands. With expert precision the devices were flipped open, commands keyed in with several swift keystrokes, and Hiroshi's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the telltale flicker on the screens.  
  
"The Imitation Gate," Satoka gasped. "But--"  
  
"SHI NE!!" Kyosuke roared. "SHINKUU MISSILE!"

  
**End Prologue**  
  
  
**_Writer's Notes_**  
Well, it's here. It took me ten months, but it's here. 'Time Trax' was my debut fanfic on ffn; it holds quite an amount of sentimental value to me, being my first story and all, and I can say I'm rather glad to have (finally) completed the first instalment of its rewrite. Does anyone still remember this? I hope not; it'd give me a clean slate to work with. Quite a few parts of the story have been and will be changed, so if you do remember the original... do give this a try; you just might be surprised (and in a pleasant manner... or so I hope). ^_^  
  
Hiroshi's old gun-toting self doesn't quite make an appearance yet, though I'm not ruling out that possibility yet in future chapters. I haven't really decided if this should be in the GK or GK21 section; check the other if the story goes missing one day.  
  
This story is dedicated to (Corruption) Rift of GateMasters fame. I can only hope I have done her justice through my (admittedly rather lacking) writing skills. @_@ Dedicated also to my dad, who bought me the Centrino notebook PC that I used to type this chapter, though I'd daresay he'd rather have me spent my time studying instead. :D  
  
'GateMasters' by Rift and 'The One Gate' by Ender are in my 'Favorite Stories' and 'Favorite Authors' lists respectively. If you haven't done so, go read them. Now. And don't forget to pester them to update, while you're at it. ^_^ 


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